In Part I, I covered some Republican claims that weren't simply wrong, but where the exact opposite was true. In Part II, I used up most of the leftovers. But it's been getting worse and worse, and most of these are recent, and many from this week [April 9, 2007].

Nuclear holocaust preferable to disloyalty

George W. Bush keeps saying that the war in Iraq was about weapons of mass destruction, and that Iran is possibly the greatest threat since it's developing a nuclear capability. But his actions say that the exact opposite is the case. He is more concerned about 'loyal Bushies' than in the safety of the United States. When it turned out that Bush lied about Iraq's potential threat and that our brave soldiers were dying because of those lies, Bush/Rove/Cheney et al did the only thing they're capable of.

Admit mistakes? No way.

Change plans so we have some exit strategy? Of course not.

Make sure the best people are in the right position to make the US safer? Not even close.

No, in response to the truth coming out, they illegally and recklessly revealed the covert status of CIA agent who was an expert in the nuclear capabilities of our potential enemies. Valerie Plame, wife of Joe Wilson who outed Bush, was outed by people looking for a Permanent Republican Majority. Rove nor Cheney cared that Plame was working under cover in the Counterproliferation Division of the CIA (story, links and video). Vital intelligence was lost. All they cared about was protecting themselves.

At first, Bush simply denied everything, claiming he was going after the real killers would fire anyone who was involved with the incident. Turning his back on the traitorous actions didn't get him anywhere, so he just sent stooges to take the fall, notably Scooter Libby.

As always, Bush's first impulse was to run away, and his second impulse was to lie.

Bush said that "you're either with us or with the terrorists (look up)", but when it comes to safety, the only thing he can talk about is the lack of a military attack on the US. Spain, England and Iraq would disagree very much they are safer. And here in the US, the terrorists have won: We have to take off our shoes to get on an airplane, innocent people are on the no-fly list, US civil rights are gone, habeas corpus is gone. Bush has done everything Osama bin Laden wanted, up to leaving Saudi Arabia and failing to investigate 9/11.

He's only fooling a smaller and smaller (and more vocal and more scatological) group of sphincter conservatives. Real Americans understand that incompetence is a threat: Bush 'fails' in anti-terror job: "a whopping 48.9 percent of respondents giving the president the thumbs down" with another 10.7% saying he was only "fair". And this is supposedly the one issue Bush was "strong" about. Mainstream America doesn't like to be lied to. They were fooled long enough. The US is now catching up with Europe, who knew long ago. Financial Times Report 6/19/06: US still main threat to stability in European eye: "36 per cent of respondents identify the US as the greatest threat to global stability" while "Thirty per cent of respondents named Iran".

McCain's armored stroll through Baghdad

Don't these people know we have videotape?

March 27, 2007, Senator and Republican presidential hopeful John McCain told Wolf Blitzer on CNN: "You know that's where you ought to catch up on things, Wolf. General Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee. I think you ought to catch up."

As it turned out, the exact opposite was the case. The streets of Baghdad are not safe to walk unarmed, and it was McCain who had to catch up.

BAGHDAD, April 2 — A day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad’s central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans’ conclusions.

“What are they talking about?” Ali Jassim Faiyad, the owner of an electrical appliances shop in the market, said Monday. “The security procedures were abnormal!”

The delegation arrived at the market, which is called Shorja, on Sunday with more than 100 soldiers in armored Humvees — the equivalent of an entire company — and attack helicopters circled overhead, a senior American military official in Baghdad said. The soldiers redirected traffic from the area and restricted access to the Americans, witnesses said, and sharpshooters were posted on the roofs. The congressmen wore bulletproof vests throughout their hourlong visit.

“They paralyzed the market when they came,” Mr. Faiyad said during an interview in his shop on Monday. “This was only for the media.”

A solid majority of Americans say they want their congressional representative to support a bill calling for a withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq by August 2008. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) say they would like to see their representative vote for such legislation, compared with just 33% who want their representative to oppose it.

Indeed, by the charts in the release, the exact opposite of May's wishful thinking has been the case since 2004. The country has been almost evenly divided, with fewer than 10% difference in support in either direction, until the middle of 2006 when a large majority of the country realized just how badly things were going.

Cliff May and many right-wing pundits just want our troops in harms way so they can justify years of dunderheaded incompetence. Soldiers are fighting bravely, but they are being betrayed by the Bush Administration's "Sitting Duck" mentality. It's time to honor the sacrifices made by our men and women in uniform, and actually make the US and Iraq safer by putting adults in charge.

Jesus died for these people?

It's Easter as I write this, and finding examples of conservative Republicans expecting you to believe the exact opposite of the truth is as easy as a kid finding Easter Eggs on the White House lawn. So easy, that I have many more examples left over.